By Merrill Shindler

If you've followed chef Robert Bell over the years — and who in the South Bay hasn't? — you know him as a visionary chef who moved the beach cities from the land of surf 'n' turf and the chili size to a culinary destination with a string of iconic restaurants. The most iconic of which is Chez Melange.

The Chez abides, continuing to feed locals who prefer loafers to flip-flops, an array of the dishes that raised the bar on local cooking. But of late, chef Bell has found a parallel existence, that looks backward (cuisinewise) rather than forward. And when I say backward, I mean toward his Italian roots on the East Coast and the cooking of his red-sauce obsessed forebears.

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Source: http://www.dailybreeze.com/